Since the beginning of hostilities last week, both Israel and Palestine have reported over 1,500 deaths and thousands of injuries as a result of the escalation.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a total of 423,378 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip. It was noted that about 64% of them are sheltered in 102 premises operated as designated emergency shelters by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The organization reported that 26,984 more individuals sought refuge at 29 Palestinian Authority schools. In light of this situation, OCHA asked for $294 million in humanitarian aid to address the pressing needs of 1,260,000 people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Public Works, 752 residential and nonresidential buildings, comprising 2,835 housing units, have been destroyed. Another 1,791 housing units have been damaged beyond repair and become uninhabitable.
On Monday, Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, a region housing over 2 million people, thereby severing the supplies of water, food, and fuel. Following the development, Gaza's only power plant has exhausted its fuel supply and ceased functioning, resulting in the cessation of the sole source of electricity for the Gaza Strip.
On October 12, the Israeli military notified the United Nations that the entire population of Gaza north, or approximately 1.1 million people, and the UN staff should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours "for their own safety." The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) added that the city's population will be able to return to their homes "only when another announcement permitting it is made."
Check out Sputnik's gallery depicting the hardships faced by civilians in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate.